Mess up, say sorry, move on: Avoid repeats

The way God intends us to be

Psalm 32:1 ESV

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

what a fantastic verse for when things in life have not gone the way you planned.

Jesus tested

As we enter the season of lent. we turn to the stories in the gospels that lead us through Jesus adult life to the culmination at the cross.

I want o do that his morning, we start in Luke 4, immediately after Jesus has been baptised.

Luke 4:1–13 CSB

1 Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.” 5 So he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 The devil said to him, “I will give you their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. 7 If you, then, will worship me, all will be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” 9 So he took him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you, 11 and they will support you with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.” 13 After the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Jesus didn’t give in to temptation but we know that it is not easy.

The enemy attacks at the places we are weakest.

Independence - Make out own way and provision rather than trusting on God.

Exemplify

Power - placing ourselves before others and over God.

Exemplify

Control - controlling others and controlling God.

Exemplify

Overcoming temptation

We live in a world in which there is temptation.

Genesis 4:7

Genesis 4:7 CSB

7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

We are given clear guidance about how we are to deal with temptation

James 4:7-8

James 4:7–8 CSB

7 Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

We even find practical advice in ways to master temptation

Knowing the word of God and using as a defence - as Jesus did with Satan in the wilderness.

As Paul describes it in Hebrews 4:12

Hebrews 4:12 CSB

12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Taking the practical approach to ‘run away’ from temptations as Joseph did

The New International Version Chapter 39

11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

leaving his cloak - sometimes taking ourselves out of the situation is the best things we can do - making the change in our selves setting our minds against temptation and resolving to overcome it. Not hanging onto habits, places, objects and people that cause us to struggle.

1 Kings 18:21

1 Kings 18:21 CSB

21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

Instead concentrating on things that do not lead us to a place we fail

Philippians 4:8

Philippians 4:8 CSB

8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.

When it all goes wrong

All of this is great advise but what happens when we are tempted, when we don’t get it right?

I have NUMBER of things to help

One - it is normal

The first thing is that it is humanly natural to get things wrong to fall into temptation.

Psychologists tell us that we have a finite ability to resist temptation even when we desperately want to it is the reason that breaking habit is so hard.

If humans did not get it wrong then Leviticus would not have been written with its numerous rituals that would put the OT people of God back in good standing when they had messed up.

Two - it is not Just you.

The second thing is that you are not the only person this will have happend to and will continue to happen to.

Temptation is so common all believers around the world face the same temptations. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13 CSB

13 No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.

You may feel like your temptations are greater than what others have to face, but that is not true. If you only knew how strongly other people are tempted to give into sin, you would be shocked.

Your desires to sin are similar to the desires most people face. While the specifics differ from person to person, the passion and potential to continue giving into temptation is universal.

(Romans 3:23)

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

"Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." (James 1:14)

Three - Don’t blame God.

Do not allow your heart to harden toward God or be angry or resentful toward Him, even during times of temptation, testing, and difficulty.

Psalm 95:7-11

Psalm 95:7–11 CSB

7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care. Today, if you hear his voice: 8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the wilderness 9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray; they do not know my ways.” 11 So I swore in my anger, “They will not enter my rest.”

Hardening our hearts moves us away from the source of our forgiveness.

When you turn to God, we get a friend and helper. When we forget about God, we get the results of living beyond the divine boundaries God has established.

Four - don’t blame yourself (too much)

It is easy to be disappointed and disheartened and this is natural after all the decision, and that is what it is - a decision to give into temptation is ours but God does not want us to wallow in the pity of our disappointment. It is Gods desire for you to be right with Him so -

Act - If you want to get back on the right track, you'll need (and want) to repent of your sin.

Temptation is not a sin in itself, but giving in to it is.

We need to acknowledge the sins we committed and repent of them before God so that He will forgive us.

We can't ignore the wrong we did and act as if nothing happened but neither should we wallow in pity or defeat– God will and does forgive.

"(1 John 1:9)

1 John 1:9 CSB

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Five - Forgiven means Forgiven

"God is love." (1 John 4:8) Among other things, this means God is quick to forgive people on account of Christ. He does not hold our sins against us when we trust in His Son to forgive us. And God gives us a bright future no matter how dark it has been in our past.

The good news is that you can be forgiven. Jesus won't hold your sin against you as you turn to Him in repentance and faith. But that doesn't mean there won’t be consequences in this life if you do wrong there can be consequences. But God is forgiving -

when we come in repentance Jesus meets us there and forgives our sins as we turn away from them and ask the Lord to cleanse us.

That is the key repentance a turning away - we have a part (all be it small) to play in this.

If I convince myself as a believer that I have no choice except to sin, then I have deceived myself. I must go back to to the bible and be reminded of who I am in Christ

Adopted, a co heir, chosen, accepted and how he has freed me to live in a way that pleases Him. After all, it was Jesus Himself who said, (John 14:15)

John 14:15 CSB

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

If I keep choosing to sin with no intent to change this is simply rebellion and in that state you are not sorry, you are not repent and that is a problem.

The flip side of this is when people ask me How do I know I am repentant, or truly sorry ? this is an interesting statement.

It is reminiscent of Catch 22 in the book by Joseph Hellier.

The very act of questioning “have I truly repented” indicates that your intent is to repent and God knows you heart. I raise this because when we turn back to God, to try again a favourite trick of the enemy is to undermine us by whispering, “your not really sorry, you can’t be forgiven” Don’t listen to those lies. The blood of Jesus, his atoning sacrifice, his forgiveness is more than sufficient.

Carl Beech story?

Six - you may fail again but aim for Freedom

In Christ, we have the opportunity to live our lives freed from the power of sin. Because we are in Him and under His Lordship, we are no longer obliged to fulfil the desires of the flesh.

Have you repented of your sin? Be encouraged by Jesus tells you:

" (see John 8:11) then move on.

Don't go back to what you've done and condemn yourself.

Instead of looking back to bash yourself for giving in to temptation, realise that you can actually overcome temptation by allowing God to change your desires.

James 1:14 tells us,

Whatever we desire will tempt us. If we allow God to change our desires, we will always look for things that please Him, not ourselves.

This may take time, there may be stumbles along the way but Gods forgiveness is complete, and continual.

Your past does not have to define your future.

You can have a new beginning today. You can bring your sins to Jesus, and enter the future as a forgiven child of God who is free to say "No" to temptation. The more you know about temptation, the more prepared you are to resist it and grow stronger as a follower of Christ. He resisted temptation perfectly and never sinned, and we can now face temptation with His grace and His strength.

So will you still tempted ?

The truth is that on this side of heaven, we will always face temptation be but as we learn more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ the defences we have, the desire to sin is reduced. We can move forward in the knowledge that when we do slip up - forgiveness abounds.

We started with a single verse from psalm 32

Psalm 32:1 CSB

1 How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!

In conclusion want to read the remainder of this but from the MESSAGE version

Psalm 32

Psalm 32 The Message

1 Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be— you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean. 2 Count yourself lucky— God holds nothing against you and you’re holding nothing back from him. 3 When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. 4 The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up. 5 Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.” Suddenly the pressure was gone— my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. 6 These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray; when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts we’ll be on high ground, untouched. 7 God’s my island hideaway, keeps danger far from the shore, throws garlands of hosannas around my neck. 8 Let me give you some good advice; I’m looking you in the eye and giving it to you straight: 9 “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule that needs bit and bridle to stay on track.” 10 God-defiers are always in trouble; God-affirmers find themselves loved every time they turn around. 11 Celebrate God. Sing together—everyone! All you honest hearts, raise the roof!

Prayer

Recognise

Matthew 26:41 CSB

41 Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Repent

Help

Lead us not into temptation

HS to help us.

Know joy and forgiveness.